Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 2, 2023

” It depends on how your lifecycle manages feedback loops and learning, how collaborative the team is, and how much WIP the team has. Each Lifecycle Manages Feedback Loops Differently Brooks wrote the original version of The Mythical Man-Month in 1975, based on the 1960s IBM 360 project. .” Brooks also said on p.

Agile 94

Agile Analysis Management Productivity 94

Johanna Rothman

DECEMBER 11, 2019

I spoke with a project manager recently. I used to facilitate project teams as a project manager. Why a project manager? When I learned to manage programs, I managed programs like that, too. Then, we went “all-Scrum” so my managers called me a Scrum Master. Scrum Master or Agile Project Manager?

Agile 60

Agile Productivity Management Meeting 60

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 28, 2019

And, someone on your team keeps a Gantt chart because a manager wants to see the team's progress in a form they feel comfortable with. If you're in this pickle, your manager might think your agile team doesn't replan very often. That manager might assume your team uses an agile approach only as a way to deliver.

Data 68

Data Agile Culture Management 68

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 17, 2021

This image shows a 6-person team where the leader/manager micromanages. Some managers want to stay “relevant,” so they work on the technical work. Other managers ask for status every day or multiple times a day. Worse, the manager attends the standup! All decisions go through that person in the middle.

Leadership 74

Leadership Agile Management Training 74

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 12, 2020

In the olden days, the project manager with the help of the team ranked.) See and demo the product as it grows. Manage the project portfolio more easily because the project releases value more often. If your company can't create an agile culture, consider an incremental lifecycle, especially if you have schedule risks.

Agile 112

Agile Productivity Management Development 112

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 24, 2023

The first time a manager asked me how many man-weeks my work would take, I said, “Zero. Demo inside the organization. We Know How to Manage “Indivisible” Work Now If people work alone, it's true, that nine women can't have one baby in one month. Besides, we know how to manage indivisible work.

Construction 78

Construction Resources Productivity Development 78

Johanna Rothman

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Nor do the teams demo on a regular basis. However, they saw these results: The product management people now see the requirements as they exist. One team overheard a product manager say, “Your late changes broke our build. ” Senior managers ask for fewer estimates because they can see the product's progress.

Agile 58

Agile Productivity Retail Management 58

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 20, 2020

Because your context is unique to you, your team, project, product, and culture. And, with any luck, nudges the culture in a good direction for your team, project, and product. Why Do You Want an Agile Culture for Your Product? Notice I said the culture is for this particular product. What do you need?

Agile 60

Agile Culture Productivity Development 60

Johanna Rothman

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

The senior manager has P&L (Profit and Loss) responsibility for the entire product line, including Product Management (for this product line), Customer Support, Training, etc. So that the senior manager can decide on the mix of products and services as a product line. How Many Managers Do You Need? What do you do?

Productivity 65

Productivity Agile Efficiency Management 65

Johanna Rothman

AUGUST 21, 2019

Part 2 was why we need managers in an agile transformation. This post is about what you can do to create an agile culture, regardless of where you are in the organization. BTW: One more thing about an agile culture: Many of the people I spoke with at the conference are convinced they need to “scale.”

Agile 65

Agile Culture Efficiency Guidelines 65

Johanna Rothman

JANUARY 31, 2024

In Effective Agility Requires Cultural Changes: Part 1 , I said that real agile approaches require cultural change to focus on flow efficiency, where we focus on watching the work, not the people. See Flow Metrics and Why They Matter to Teams and Managers for more information. The more frequently you can demo, the better.

Agile 70

Agile Metrics Efficiency Culture 70

Johanna Rothman

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

They (the team) feel that the tasks for the sprint are too varied to manage to a single sprint goal. Instead, I see assumptions that reveal a divide-and-conquer, and possibly a command-and-control culture, not an agile culture. And these managers have not read the Scrum Guide. When was the most recent demo?

Interviews 95

Interviews Culture Agile Efficiency 95

Johanna Rothman

MARCH 6, 2024

In Effective Agility Requires Cultural Changes: Part 1 , I said that real agile approaches require cultural change to focus on flow efficiency , where we watch the flow of the work , not the people doing tasks. What about those cultural changes? Let's start with risks and how feedback loops manage those risks.

Agile 80

Agile Culture Efficiency Metrics 80

Johanna Rothman

JULY 29, 2021

The managers want rigid roadmaps. Because the managers want to “know” the teams will deliver it all. However, the managers create a roadmap similar to the image above. The managers created a Gantt Chart as a picture, not a roadmap. The managers created a Gantt Chart as a picture, not a roadmap.

Agile 143

Agile Productivity Data Management 143

Johanna Rothman

JUNE 24, 2021

I suspected I would learn about engagement with my next questions about management patterns. Management Patterns That Might Cause a Team to Miss “Deadlines” I find two general buckets of problems for missing deadlines: how management organizes teams and the “need” for certain measures. And remotely!)

Agile 85

Agile Meeting Software Government 85

Harvard Business

MAY 23, 2016

We all have the tendency to look at other cultures through the lens of our own. While this is natural, it can lead to misunderstandings when communicating with and managing colleagues from around the world. Western cultures tend to view time as linear , with a definitive beginning and end. Managing Across Cultures.

Culture 42

Culture Efficiency Meeting Ethics 42

Harvard Business

OCTOBER 20, 2016

If the Microsoft board was managing for quarter-to-quarter or even year-to year-revenue growth, Ballmer was as good as it gets as a CEO. Projects not directly related to those activities never got serious resource or management attention. Yet in five years the only new thing Apple managed to get out the door is the Watch.

Operations 28

Operations Productivity Software Talent 28

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 8, 2020

The spiral model assumes that if you get feedback early enough, you've managed the technical and requirements risks. I had to explain to my managers how the project would work. My managers were smart but didn't understand how to spiral time. Once our customers saw demos, they wanted to change things. Manage customer risk.

Agile 116

Agile Development Productivity Management 116

Harvard Business

APRIL 19, 2016

To account for its success, many point to America’s entrepreneurial culture, its tolerance for failure and its unique ecosystem of venture funding. ” Yet that poses a problem for managers. Eric Haller, EVP and Global Head at Experian Data Labs emphasizes creating a culture of discovery.

Research 28

Research Company Conference Biotechnology 28

Johanna Rothman

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Back in the 1990s, I worked as a hands-on program manager for a 12-person team. Some of the dysfunction was due to the culture, which discouraged collaboration. The previous manager had focused on resource efficiency, not flow efficiency , so everyone had “their” own work. That's what it feels like to people.)

Agile 109

Agile Culture Efficiency Development 109

Johanna Rothman

OCTOBER 27, 2020

Do you need feedback loops so you can: Cancel the project at any time (to manage schedule and cost risks. Assess technical risks so you can rework the architecture or design to manage feature set risks. Manage what you release to customers so you can manage defect, feature set, schedule, and cost risks.

Agile 101

Agile Culture Productivity Management 101

Johanna Rothman

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

The post image is my chasm image from Manage It! The closer to the left your products are, the more your managers might be open to changing their behaviors and the culture. TL; DR: “Stop making it harder” is a culture problem. When to give into demands to demo (“I haven't tested!”)

Culture 126

Culture Management Productivity Agile 126